What began as a coffee with friends and other fraternal and couples gatherings ended in one of the biggest recent tragedies in Bucaramanga.
He Friday October 2nd of this yeartowards 10:00 amthe restaurant Hello Life of the capital of Santander became the scene of a catastrophic accident.
Suárez Saavedra’s husband was also injured in the incident. Photo:Courtesy
Today, thanks to the revelation of a witness who is a historian, researcher and teacher, who was in the place and who decided to break the silence in the social networkit is possible to reconstruct minute by minute the incident that cost the environmental engineer her life Janeth Mylene Suárez Saavedra, 57 years old, and left her husband convalescing, José Luis Rodríguez.
The prelude to the emergency
According to the witness on her social networks, she and a friend went to the well-known restaurant with a purpose: they wanted to make a video call to greet a friend who had a birthday and lives in Florence. Once at the site, they sat at a table and ordered coffee accompanied by a mini-cake to start the surprise.
The woman suffered burns over a large part of her body. Photo:Courtesy
“On Friday (October 2), a friend had a birthday. He lives in Florencia and, from Bucaramanga, Together with a friend, we wanted to make a video call to say hello. To do this, we decided to meet at a well-known restaurant in the city; From there we planned the surprise for the birthday boy,” he says.
“While we were waiting for order at the tablea couple entered the place and sat right behind where we were we found. Almost at the same time, they made the order. After a while, the waitress It served us,” is part of the story.
“There were few people with me in the place; it was almost 10 am. I remember a couple of very elegant girls, an elderly person in the patio of the place, the couple who were victims of the events and us,” he says.
Janeth Mylene Suárez Saavedra died after being hospitalized for 11 days in Bucaramanga, Photo:Courtesy
The outbreak of fire and chaos
But the tranquility of the morning was interrupted. The teacher says that just as she was about to take a sip from her cup, she heard a scream coming from the back table.
“When I was about to drink my coffee, I heard the lady sitting right behind shout of me I quickly got up to see what was happening, while screaming I saw fire coming out of his table; In moments, her hair was caught by the flames and the next thing It was a tragedy for go crazy,” he continues.
Hello Life expressed condolences to the family. Photo:Courtesy
“There were few people with me in the place; it was almost 10 am. I remember a couple of very elegant girls, an elderly person in the patio of the place, the couple who were victims of the events and us,” he says.
When she quickly got up to see what was happening, she witnessed a scene of horror: fire was coming out of the couple’s table and, in a matter of seconds, the flames reached the woman’s hair.
Panic took over the premises: “Some people just froze, others cried.while The husband, a girl and I were trying to put out the fire that was spreading through the woman’s body. There are no words to describe that despair. Finally, we were able to help her,” he continues with the dramatic story.
‘I still hear that woman’s screams’
“I still hear the screams of that woman, her grief at the wounds, the panic that took hold of me when there was finally no fire, the frustration at not doing more, the fear of seeing her wounds, the crying of everyone, while we listened to the heartbreaking request for help,” the narrative continues.
The agony and the wait for help
The witness describes the subsequent moments as indescribable desperation. Although they were eventually able to extinguish the flames, the horror continued.
The teacher says that the ambulance would have taken a while to arrive at the scene.
Due to the severity of his injuries and his disconsolate state, the victim did not allow those present to approach him; Instead, she persistently begged her husband to call one of her sons. With the certainty that his life was going out, he claimed to be dying and he was desperate to see it. The young man managed to arrive at the restaurant before the paramedics did.
Aftermath of horror and last goodbye
The psychological impact of what she experienced left serious repercussions on the narrator, who stated that she had spent the following days immersed in sadness, with feelings of collapse, vomiting and constant crying, concluding with a reflection on how ephemeral and fragile life is.
On the social network it is reported that engineer Janeth Mylene and her husband José Luis They were transferred to the International Hospital of Colombia (HIC), in Piedecuesta. She has since been in the intensive care unit and, in recent days, in an induced coma because he couldn’t stand the pain.
On Tuesday, October 13, he was discharged. Hours before, in the early morning, she rested forever, reads the X network publication.
Guilds such as the Colombian Association of the Gastronomic Industry (Acodrés) asked for greater controls to avoid similar tragedies.
The engineer’s wake took place in the Colonial Hall of the Jardines La Colina cemetery park in Bucaramanga, and her funeral took place on October 16.
“I just want to express what we hear so many times: life is so ephemeral, so fragile, that knowing how to live it is a duty,” were the words of the witness in this painful story.
CAROLINA BOHÓRQUEZ
EL TIEMPO correspondent
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